We saw 48 of the elusive Sandhill Cranes on Sunday, which is about a 3rd of the population. A great start to the week!
It started out with a bang, when 2 unbanded were at the HQ feeder then flew across Gautier/Vancleave Road headed to the South Gautier Unit.
We were pleasantly surprised when we got to the Ben Williams Pen and flushed 11 Sandhill Cranes.
When we got to the Beasley Crop Unit, we saw Aunt Alice hanging around with her favorite couple.
We flushed the 2 families at the Brown's trail crop unit.
We came to a dead stop and watched Coco and Nana as they walked on the road toward us on Browns Trail, without a care in the world.
The Crane sightings continued with a total of 28 Cranes before lunch.
After our lunch break, we went to Fontainebleau Trail to collect the phenology data. Before we got to Hwy. 57 on G/V Road, we spotted 11 Cranes in a field. After a few pictures they flew away to the east.
We headed to Bright's Pasture hoping they had landed there. They weren't in the pastures, but we found Dougie and his mate behind a house and another trio across the road.
We saw a couple more Cranes at the pond near Glenn Crane and Riggings but we did not get a photo.
Not to be outdone, we found a couple more foraging in front of the Sunplex Industrial Park.
Gathering the phenology data was not as exciting as seeing all the Cranes, but we did enjoy our peaceful trail walk.
We barely got out before the morning was done on Monday. We took our 2 mile walk along the Dees Trail and Crane Lane getting in a few photos along the way.
The afternoon, we turned the Billy Goat loose on all the pine straw that has fallen on the road. We spent the afternoon relaxed at camp.
Ferny Kat was quite annoying Tuesday morning. She started walking across us and meowing at 4:30 am. She continued after Lauren got up. When I finally got up at 8 am, I found out we were going to work at 9 am. That got me in high gear.
We went to the FB pen and placed the feeders and water troughs and fixed a makeshift blind out of trees we cut down. After lunch, we weed-eated the grass inside the HQ pen, and placed the feeders and water troughs. It was hard to cut down all those pretty flowers. Somehow, I missed one sunflower.
We sat outside and relaxed after our 7 hour day.
We had a slow start to Wednesday. Lauren walked the trail and I joined him for the Crane Lane walk.
We made a detour to the pen to take a picture of the last remaining sunflower in the pen.
We got the mowers out and mowed the little strip along Crane Lane that has been way too wet to mow, then got Camp Crane mowed.
We made a ride to Grand Bay, picked up litter at the Oak Grove Trail, took a walk on the boardwalk, then came back to camp and waited for the rain.
According to the weather forecast, the cold and windy days start tomorrow. Not our favorite time of the year.
Thursday, we gave the new interns an orientation of the visitor center. It was so great to be back in our element, and watching the movie was awesome.
We treated the fire ants at the HQ pen, then took a ride to Fontainebleau Trail to put out brochures. While we were in the area, we checked to see how the Fontainebleau Pen was holding up on the gusty windy day. It was taking a beating, but holding it's on.
We updated the plant markers on the Dees Trail, then sat outside until we got our fill of the cold windy air.
The last couple of days of this week, were spent enjoying campfires, eating good, watching Cranes, Eagles, and other birds while getting glimpse of a few other critters and plant blooms. Life is Good!!
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